Static-X at Riverfront Live in Cincinnati, OH 29-NOV-2019

December 9, 2019 Michael Deinlein Concert Reviews Comments Off

Static-X celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Wisconsin Death Trip with crazed Cincinnati fans along with Mushroomhead, Dope, Wednesday 13, and Raven Black.

It’s black Friday, the largest commercial shopping day in the United States and while millions were flooding retail stores across the country a huge crowd of metallers flocked to Cincy’s Riverfront Live to catch the reincarnated Static-X.

2019 marks the 20th Anniversary of Static-X’s Platinum-selling album, Wisconsin Death Trip as bassist Tony Campos explains “Our intention is to pay ultimate respect to Wayne and to celebrate the music that has been in all of our hearts for more than 20 years. It’s all about channeling the vibe from 1999 to the best of our ability and playing those classic STATIC-X songs live and loud.”

The Wisconsin Death Trip (WDT) tour started on June 18th in Tempe, Arizona and has been met with overwhelming support from fans across the country as well as Europe. Along with the original WDT lineup of bassist Tony Campos, guitarist Koichi Fukuda and drummer Ken Jay is the mysterious and unidentified front man XerO, who is performing with a mask complete with Wayne’s trademark electrified hair, further adding to the visual impact of the evening.

In front of a stage length video screen projecting images of Wayne Static and the band during their time together, Static-X blasted through a set centered around the WDT album with a fire and fury that rolled back time. Not much for on-stage banter, Static-X ripped through the WDT album with an energy and precision that the crowd was clearly enjoying, with many in the crowd jumping, fist-pumping and singing right along with Xer0 and the rest of the group for much of the evening.

Before closing their set with Static X’s most popular and commercially successful song, “Push It”, Xer0 took a quick moment to address the crowd. “Thanks for letting me sing to you, He (Wayne Static) was a dear friend. A big thanks goes to Tony Campos for making this happen across the world. Let’s remember all the good times we had with Wayne – cheers!”

Static-X Setlist
December* (tape)
Bled for Days*
Wisconsin Death Trip*
Fix*
Sweat of the Bud*
Love Dump*
I Am*
Otsegolation*
The Trance Is the Motion
Bien Venidos (tape)
Get to the Gone
Black and White
This Is Not
Destroy All
Start a War
Behemoth
Cold*
I’m With Stupid*
Push It*
Stem* (Tape)

Providing the main support this evening was Cleveland Ohio based rockers Mushroomhead. On the smaller Riverfront Live stage, the guys were electric as they rolled through their hour-long set. As normal the stage was bookended with their signature water drums, providing for a dramatic visual experience for the Cincy fans. An additional treat this evening was Unsaid Fate singer Jackie LaPonza who joined Mushroomhead for a few songs during the middle of the set, eventually finding herself in the middle of the crowd with the assistance of many fans in the pit.

While the evening was clearly centered around Static-X and the Wisconsin Death Trap anniversary, New York-based metallers Dope are also celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album Felons and Revolutionaries. Edsel Dope took a minute during their set to talk a little about Static-X, Wayne Static and how closely the two groups are connected “Dope probably toured more with Static-X than anyone else over the years and we had a great relationship” Dope closed their set with their most popular song, a cover of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” that had the whole venue jumping.

Opening this evening were the dynamic double team of Wednesday 13 and Raven Black. With their dramatic stage shows and hard-driving music, both Wednesday 13 and Raven Black proved to be great complements for the evening.